


Hurt-Comfort

by rawkfemme



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, blood warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 22:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12119055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rawkfemme/pseuds/rawkfemme
Summary: Kathryn is hurt, but Chakotay needs comfort.This is a fic-iversary giveaway winner for the radiant AngryWarrior69.





	Hurt-Comfort

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angrywarrior69](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angrywarrior69/gifts).



> The challenge that I gave myself was to fulfill the winner's prompt as best I could, while staying within the exact word count (1239 for this story). I hope I did that. Thanks to my beta, MiaCooper, who did a wonderful job.

**** At first, it didn’t hurt at all. If anything, it was confusing. Kathryn Janeway lay on a high rocky outcropping, 10 meters lower than where she had been suspended moments before.  Her head rang and she could smell something metallic, but that didn’t explain why the leg of her light grey climbing gear was deepening to command red.  It didn’t make any sense.  

She looked out across the alien expanse below her.  It was a field of green foliage, dotted by aubergine fronds and cut by a swath of crystalline blue water. In the distance, she heard a cacophony of pebbles raining onto slate, and a call that vaguely sounded like her name.

Soon, the dull ache that crept into her thigh escalated to a stinging roar. Her long fingers gripped tightly around her leg, trying to quiet the sensation.  The gathering blood, both sticky and slick, obscured her view of its cause. Kathryn’s scientific brain craved explanation, but her swooning body was unable to cooperate. As her vision darkened, she felt something warm near her side, and the touch of something soft on her face.

“Kathryn, you can’t do this again. Stay with me.” The desperate edge in the familiar voice caused Kathryn’s eyes to spring open. 

Chakotay’s face hovered above her own. She had seen that look before: his eyes tense and glistening, steeped with fear as he held her tightly. Pulling his tricorder from his belt, he scanned her, assessing if there were any injuries unseen that needed attention.

“There you are.” His worried eyes softened and his lips broke into a smile. It’s just your leg. No internal injuries. No concussion.”

“Just my leg?” Kathryn’s voice was hoarse. “Good thing I have a spare. How did I get down here?” As she tried to sit up, Kathryn gasped and coughed out a pained moan.

“Easy. Lay down so I can look at this.” Chakotay’s continence seemed reassuring, but the slight warble in his voice belied his calm. “I swung away to place the next anchor, and when I looked down, you were here. I hate to say it, but this may be my fault. Some team-building partner I am.”

“I highly doubt that you...” Kathryn’s back arched as the intensity of the pain seemed to double, adrenaline wearing off as the reality of what her battered body had been through set in, “...caused this.”

“I can’t stop the bleeding with the emergency regenerator. Luckily, your femoral artery was spared, but you’re still losing a lot of blood. 

“Chakotay to Paris.” Chakotay called out over his combadge. All he received in response was static. “The rock face is scattering the signal. I doubt the other teams will respond.”

“Next time, I’ll build some contingencies into the staff trip.”  Kathryn pressed her lips together and let her head fall back as a wave of pain crested over her.  Soon, the cool metal of a hypospray pressed against her aorta, dispersing its powerful relief.

This was not how Kathryn had thought the day would go.  When  _ Voyager _ began orbiting this pristine planet, it seemed like the perfect chance for them to blow off some steam and come together as a team. A series of challenges with a rotation of partners was sure to increase their unit cohesion.

After navigating a rocky riverbed blindfolded with B’Elanna, a ropes course with Harry, and a trust fall with Tom and Tuvok, Chakotay and Kathryn were on the last leg of the partner events before coming together as a whole senior staff for the final event, a potluck lunch.

Each team was scaling the alien edifice separately. The rock was unfamiliar; highly reflective and as sharp as chipped marble where it cleaved. When the anchor loosed and Kathryn fell, it would have been all too easy for her to plummet to her death. Kathryn knew this as she watched Chakotay search his mind for what action to take to help her.

Chakotay unfastened his tight grey climbing jumpsuit, peeling it to his waist, then stripped off his undershirt and began tearing the soft material into strips. Kathryn reflected that the hypospray must have gone a long way to relieving her pain, because at the sight of Chakotay’s broad shoulders and well-muscled arms, she was beginning to feel much improved. As he leaned over her to tie the tourniquet he had fashioned around her thigh, she watched the musculature of his back arch and curve. His head drooped and he turned to her with what almost looked like shame in his eye.

“Kathryn, I’m going to need to remove your pant leg.  The fabric will bunch when I try to tie this and it won’t work as well.”

“Of course. Do what you need to do.”  She tried to sound professional and reassuring, but if she was honest with herself, she was a bit overwhelmed.  No one had seen her legs above the knee in years. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be bared to him. At least, not like this.

Chakotay took his knife from his belt and began to slowly cut the material away. The cool edge of the metal blade glided across Kathryn’s sticky and blood-stained skin.  The wound was high, and as he gently lifted her leg to remove the fabric below his hand grazed oh so close to the apex of her thigh.  As she sucked in a sharp breath at the surprise of the contact, she could almost imagine that she heard a small moan escape his lips. His eyes shot up to meet hers, and it was evident from the blush that darkened his cheeks that he was as embarrassed as she was. Not of the contact, or the company, but of the circumstance.

As Chakotay finished tying the tourniquet around her leg, Tom Paris rappelled down the cliffside to the outcropping.

“Good afternoon Captain, Commander.”  Tom appraised the various states of dress that his commanding officers were in with his typical smirking charm. “When we realized you weren’t at the summit, I grabbed my med kit and came searching. But, it seems you have things well in  _ hand _ .”

With a quick movement, Chakotay’s palm retreated from where it had laid, high on Kathryn’s naked thigh.

“I’ll send  _ Voyager _ your coordinates for transport.” Tom began to climb back up the mountain, but turned to continue, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” It was a risky thing to say to his superior officers, but they were in no state to rebuke.

“Chakotay,” Kathryn started, needing to restore the atmosphere between them. “Thank you for coming to my aid. There's no one better suited for this situation.” She patted his hand, which now rested on  _ his  _ thigh.

“Trust me Captain, seeing you come around provided me more comfort than I probably provided you.”  Chakotay’s eyes burned intensely. Not wanting to break from his gaze, but needing to lighten the mood, she could only think of one thing to say as her fingers lightly played over his knuckles.

“Oh, ‘Captain’ is it?  The whole time you were undressing yourself, and me, and heroically saving my life I was ‘Kathryn’.”

“Captain...Kathryn...I...”

“Never mind all that,” waving him off with a glint in her eye and a quirked half smile. “Just be sure to call me Kathryn when you bring dinner to my quarters tonight.  Oh, and Chakotay, going forward, anytime we’re in private you can forgo the shirt.”

 


End file.
